


Where Lost Things Go

by dragons_and_angels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Forgiveness, Gen, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21514606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: Percy wants to make amends to his family, but Ron is quick to remind him that there are people without the name of Weasley in the family.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Percy Weasley/Oliver Wood
Kudos: 24





	Where Lost Things Go

**Author's Note:**

> Just so everyone knows, this isn't a Percy-hating fic. It's more of a 'Percy learns more about Harry and what he went through in the war and along the way reconciles with everyone else' kind of fic. And there is Percy/Oliver because I love that pairing but Oliver won't show up for a little while.

Ron's face was blank after Percy had made his apology. The lack of expression on the most open of his brothers had Percy floundering and he stuttered out more words that didn't add anything to the apology, were just meaningless noise. After a long minute stretched on in silence, Ron eventually moved. 

"Percy, I forgive you for leaving and I even forgive you for what you said to Dad." His mouth twisted in what Percy was starting to recognise was self-loathing. "Merlin knows I haven't been great about taking our money situation in stride. The stuff I used to say when I was younger - it's a wonder Hermione and Harry didn't curse me from the start." 

"There's a but in there," Percy said timidly and Ron gave him a sharp look. 

"Yeah, there's a but in there." Ron didn't even quirk a smile at the obvious joke. "Your letter in fifth year, I let Harry and Hermione read it." With a sickening sense of realisation, Percy knew exactly what letter Ron was talking about. He was cursed with a good memory and the lines in the letter danced in front of his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but Ron halted him before he got the chance. "I know you're sorry, Percy. I'm sorry that I showed them the letter in the first place, especially since I saw Harry's face after he read the letter." Now the look on his face was one of swallowing something bitter. 

"How did..." Percy couldn't finish the sentence but Ron answered him anyway. 

"Stunned. Upset. Betrayed. But worst of all, he looked defeated. He stood up to Voldemort with the same reckless courage people are always condemning him for but after he read your letter, he looked like he just wanted to forget everything. I can't forget the look of hurt on his face and that's why there is a limit to my forgiveness. If you went and told him how sorry you were, he would forgive you instantly because that's what Harry does. He's forgiven Dumbledore, Snape and Malfoy, for Merlin's sake, he would definitely forgive you and not just because you're my brother but because to him you're family and you always forgive family." Ron's expression said he knew the irony of his words as he stood there and withheld his forgiveness. 

"What can I do?" Percy was lost. Harry was on his list of people to seek forgiveness from but his courage had failed him so far and he hadn't approached him. 

Ron gave him a searching look and Percy was once again reminded that his little brother wasn't so little anymore. He had missed part of Ron growing up and now they were both having to relearn each other. "I don't want you just to say sorry to him. I want you to go to Harry when you've actually made an effort to understand." He picked up his wand from the table and raised it. Percy kept himself still, reminding himself that Ron wouldn't curse him. " _Accio_ Quibbler!" 

A magazine came shooting out of the bedroom, one with Harry's face plastered on the cover and Ron thrust it at Percy. "Read it and remember Harry was fourteen when this happened. And then when he had to deal with the nightmares of seeing Voldemort return and a fellow student die in front of him, he had to deal with the rest of the world calling him an attention-seeking liar, including a guy who had known him for four years. He counted us as his family and your letter reminded him that in your eyes, he wasn't." 

Percy stared down at the picture of Harry as he blinked up at him. He wasn't scowling in the picture but his jaw was set in a determined stare. There was no uncertainty in this stance, this was Harry who knew exactly who he was. It was a confidence Percy had never truly felt, no matter how much he faked it. 

"I want you to try and understand him and only say sorry when it's more for his benefit than for yours," Ron said quietly. He may only be eighteen, but he was far more mature than Percy easily. He had grown up and Percy had to learn how to adjust to this Ron, rather than the insecure child he had left. 

"I'll do it, Ron. I promise." Percy looked down at the Quibbler in his hands and wondered how he should approach it. His mind, already so analytical, was figuring out pathways and step-by-step guides to solving this problem. 

Ron finally smiled at him, though it was small. "I know you will, Percy." 

**

The first thing Percy did was go to talk to his father. He had a strict pattern about which parent he went to with what issues. When he needed comfort and support, he went to his mother. When he needed advice, even some that he didn't want to hear, he went to his father. 

The two of them were in the shed along with a large metal Muggle contraption that his father had called a 'motorbike' and Percy was regaling his father about the conversation between him and Ron (though he skimmed over the sensitive parts) and remembering how much he had missed this after he left. 

His father said nothing for a good five minutes, his gaze faraway as he put his thoughts in order. "After Harry came to stay with us, the summer after V-Voldemort returned," his father started, with barely a flinch at the forbidden name, "he was pale and thin, even worse than he normally was, but he shook all the time. He hated it and tried everything to stop us from seeing it but the bags underneath his eyes got darker and darker. Your mother and Sirius were almost frantic in their worry, even if both of them handled it in very different ways." 

It was still startling to hear Sirius Black referred to without being called a mass murderer. Percy had only been five when he had been arrested but he remembered his father's shocked explanation as he read the paper this morning. His mother had looked sick, as he recalled, and had hugged all her children as hard as she could that day. 

"Harry handled it because that was what he did. He told no one about his nightmares or the worries about the trial, despite the fact we knew he had them, and it was because he had learned to keep those feelings to himself." His father turned to look at him, as if he had just noticed him in the shed listening. "Do you remember how stressed you were about your O.W.L.s?" Percy nodded and Arthur gave him a sad smile. "Just remember how you felt then and multiply it by ten." 

That seemed to be all the advice Percy was to be given that day and he and his Dad moved onto slightly less painful topics, like Kingsley Shacklebolt's restructuring of the Ministry. He let his father's words sink into the back of his mind as he went home and thought over something that was going to change his worldview. He had done the hard part of going back to his family, facing his siblings with his hat in his hands and an apology on his lips. Empathising with Harry should have been easy, but somehow the more Percy thought about how it must have been like for him, the worst it got. 

He needed more help.


End file.
